The President deserves a huge thank you for standing up for wildlife against irresponsible fossil fuel development.

Keystone XL is a boondoggle project that threatens wildlife every step of the way. In the productive and pristine evergreen forests of Alberta, land is strip mined and drilled, turning a vast migratory bird breeding ground and haven for caribou, wolves, and bear into a poisoned moonscape. Toxic tailings ponds that can be seen from space have killed ducks and other waterfowl by the thousands.

Along the pipeline’s route, the risks to wildlife continue. Sandhill cranes and whooping cranes are threatened by power lines. The pipeline slices through the unique sandhills. And key water resources like the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers, and the massive Ogallala aquifer, are threatened with type of catastrophic spill that still pollutes the Kalamazoo River more than 4 years after a burst pipe spilled about a million gallons of tar sands into the river.

Threatened and endangered species put at risk include the whooping crane, least tern, piping plover and pallid sturgeon.

The Environmental Protection Agency Provides New Grounds for Rejection

On February 2, EPA put a final nail in the coffin of this project, finding that:

The Final S[upplemental] E[nvironmental] I[mpact] S[tatement] concluded that at sustained oil prices of $65 to $75 per barrel, the higher transportation costs of shipment by rail “could have a substantial impact on oil sands production levels – possibly in excess of the capacity of the proposed project.” In other words, the Final SEIS found that at sustained oil prices within this range, construction of the pipeline is projected to change the economics of oil sands development and result in increased oil sands production, and the accompanying greenhouse gas emissions, over what would otherwise occur. Given recent large declines in oil prices and the uncertainty of oil price projections, the additional low price scenario included in the Final SEIS should be given additional weight during decision making, due to the potential implications of lower oil prices on project impacts, especially greenhouse gas emissions.

In short, at current oil prices – which are at around $50 per barrel and projected to be low for quite some time – Keystone XL will result in significant carbon pollution.

Growing Bi-Partisan Support for Climate Science

And there’s more good news. Another thing we learned from the Congressional debate over Keystone XL is that that a bipartisan majority in the Senate now agrees climate change is real and significantly caused by humans.

This demonstrates a growing recognition that climate science denial will no longer stand with the American public. It also indicates an increasing unease among Washington politicians caught between the big polluter agenda and the consensus of scientists and the American public that climate change is real and we must act. Bi-partisan action cannot come soon enough.

2014 was the hottest year on record, according to both NASA and NOAA. The last 38 years in a row were above the 20th century average, meaning no American born since the Carter administration has lived through a cooler-than-average year globally.

Since the 1970s, each decade has been warmer than the last.

Last year’s National Climate Assessment confirmed that climate change will pose serious threats to wildlife. For instance, as temperatures rise and precipitation patterns change, many fish species (such as salmon, trout, whitefish, and char) will be lost from lower-elevation streams, including a projected loss of 47% of habitat for all trout species in the western U.S. by 2080. And ocean surface waters have become 30% more acidic as they have absorbed large amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, hurting shell-building organisms like corals, krill, oysters, clams, and crabs and threatening the entire marine food chain.

]]>http://blog.nwf.org/2015/02/president-delivers-tar-sands-wildlife-win-keystone-xl-rejection-next/feed/0Further Scientific Evidence of the Severity of Climate Changehttp://blog.nwf.org/2014/05/further-scientific-evidence-of-the-severity-of-climate-change-2/
http://blog.nwf.org/2014/05/further-scientific-evidence-of-the-severity-of-climate-change-2/#commentsTue, 06 May 2014 16:25:28 +0000http://blog.nwf.org/?p=95418Read more >]]>Today marks the release of the Third National Climate Assessment (NCA), a significant report that underscores the potential gravity of climate change to our nation’s well-being. This extensively peer-reviewed report is the product of years of work and it gives us the most comprehensive analysis of climate change in the United States that we have to date.

Salmon and other key fish species are threatened by changes in temperature and precipitation.

The assessment re-enforces what we already know: that human-induced climate change is happening, and it is drastically changing wildlife habitat and communities across the country. From sea level rise in Florida, to powerful and prolonged drought in California, there is nowhere in the U.S. that isn’t feeling the pressure of climate change. As highlighted in the report, the average temperature in the U.S. has increased by about 1.5˚F since 1895, and more than 80% of that warming has occurred since 1980. These warmer temperatures are affecting some of our most iconic species. In the Northwest Atlantic, 24 out of 36 commercially exploited fish stocks showed significant range shifts with the warmer waters and across the country, warmer and drier conditions during the growing season and disrupting critical plant-pollinator relationships such as the monarch butterfly and the milkweed plant.

Monarch butterflies are one of the pollinator species impacted by climate change. Photo by Victor Quintanilla.

The most striking take away from the National Climate Assessment is how many of these changes we are already experiencing. No longer is the science just about predicting what will happen decades down the road; we have powerful examples of what is already happening and how much more serious the impacts of climate change will get without meaningful action to reduce the threat. We are seeing temperatures rise faster, wildfires blaze stronger, and ocean acidification increase quicker. The scientific community is concerned and, as someone whose future is largely ahead of me, I share their concern and alarm.

How we need to respond

Importantly, the NCA also provides us with a gameplan to figure out how to respond to climate change in our daily lives. We will have to deal with these changes by acting to cut carbon pollution, changing our agriculture practices, and learning how to help wildlife and communities adapt. The changes we are seeing today are a warning and a glimpse into the future if we do not act now on climate. Moving forward, we need to:

Do everything we can now to prevent these changes from overwhelming us in the future. One way to do this is by advocating for sensible and responsible limits on carbon pollution from power plants, the largest contributor of greenhouse gases in the United States.

]]>http://blog.nwf.org/2014/05/further-scientific-evidence-of-the-severity-of-climate-change-2/feed/0Courage, Credibility and Conviction: James Hansen’s Remarkable Career at NASAhttp://blog.nwf.org/2013/04/courage-credibility-and-conviction-james-hansens-remarkable-career-at-nasa/
http://blog.nwf.org/2013/04/courage-credibility-and-conviction-james-hansens-remarkable-career-at-nasa/#commentsThu, 04 Apr 2013 13:21:37 +0000http://blog.nwf.org/?p=77928Read more >]]>This piece originally appeared on Climate Access.

James Hansen. Flickr photo by Milan Ilnyckyj.

Climate scientist James Hansen recently announced his retirement after 46 years at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), to allow him more time and flexibility to advocate for climate action. While it saddens me that he will no longer be devoting as much of his considerable intellect to advancing climate science, I can’t say that I’m all that surprised. This move is consistent with the courage and conviction that has characterized Hansen’s career.

Some of the first scientific papers I read in graduate school were those describing the climate models that James Hansen and colleagues developed during the early 1980s. I can recall going to the university library to find the bound volumes of the journals, and then photocopying the articles page by page. At upwards of 40 pages each and 5 cents a page, it would add up for a poor student budget! But, they were worth every penny. These papers were rich in technical details. As someone new to climate science, I was in awe of what Hansen and colleagues had accomplished; fascinated by how much they had learned by developing these remarkable computational tools.

By the time I finished graduate school and packed up my dog-eared copies of these papers, I realized just how much we still didn’t know about climate change. I knew much more about the inner workings of climate models – where they had good observational data to support the calculations and where they had to rely on theory or assumptions in the absence of observations. These uncertainties led many scientists to provide multiple caveats about the model projections when they spoke publicly about their research results.

But, not James Hansen. He had been speaking out about the risks of climate change since the 1980s. Whereas many scientists emphasized all the things we still didn’t know about climate change, Hansen was telling people what we did know, often at significant professional peril. He was speaking to Congress, presidential administrations, and the media about the real and present danger posed by our addiction to fossil fuels. He was approaching his research in such a way to provide cutting-edge scientific results with high relevancy to policy. He was making sure people knew about those results and the implications for our energy and pollution choices.

And, so out of everything I have learned from his impressive body of work, the most important lesson I have taken from Hansen’s career is this: We know quite a lot about climate change and have a crucial responsibility to help people understand the risks we face. Climate models are imperfect, but they still are incredibly important tools that provide essential information to guide societal decisions. We’ll never be able to observe the earth system in its entirety or perfectly predict the future, but we have ample knowledge of climate change to inform action.

Hansen has combined impeccable scientific credibility with a strong voice advocating for climate action in a way that few other scientists have managed. In recent years, he has increasingly taken a more personal approach to science communication, often mentioning his grandchildren as a strong motivation. It is this combination of science, advocacy, and humanity that makes Hansen’s climate communication efforts so compelling. I look forward to seeing how he continues to advance climate science communication—and what further lessons he has for all of us!—in this next stage of his career.

]]>http://blog.nwf.org/2013/04/courage-credibility-and-conviction-james-hansens-remarkable-career-at-nasa/feed/0A Student’s Guide to the National Climate Assessmenthttp://blog.nwf.org/2013/02/a-students-guide-to-the-national-climate-assessment/
http://blog.nwf.org/2013/02/a-students-guide-to-the-national-climate-assessment/#commentsWed, 13 Feb 2013 16:12:02 +0000http://blog.nwf.org/?p=74609Read more >]]>We are currently in the midst of a 90-day comment period for a defining government document on the climate, the draft National Climate Assessment. The 1,000-page report is available online for the general public to review and, importantly, to submit comments. Two-hundred-forty authors and sixty advisory committee members from all corners of the scientific community compiled the report, divided into more easily digested sections by region and topic, so you can focus on “Water, Energy and Land Use” or climate impacts in the Great Plains, for instance. The Executive Summary lists eleven general themes of the NCA, including the following:

Human-induced climate change is projected to continue and accelerate significantly if emissions of heat-trapping gases continue to increase.

Natural ecosystems are being directly affected by climate change, including changes in biodiversity and location of species. As a result, the capacity of ecosystems to moderate the consequences of disturbances such as droughts, floods and severe storms is being diminished.

Planning for adaptation (to address and prepare for impacts) and mitigation (to reduce emissions) is increasing, but progress with implementation is limited.

The NCA is a premier collection of climate science that can be used to inform policy decisions, and is especially important because it’s yet another vessel (in addition to recent extreme weather events) carrying home the point that our climate is changing right now, as a result of human behavior. It is one more piece of proof that climate science is not something you can choose to “believe in” and that urgent action at all levels is vital to maintaining some semblance of normal on this planet.

The comment period for the NCA presents us with an opportunity to share with the government our own expertise and experiences—as much as the scientific studies may show us, we often know our own backyards best, and could possibly add a comment about something the NCA missed (I’m sure you’re probably asking how anything could be left out of a 1,000-page document but hey, Citizen Scientist, you never know).

In addition to writing a comment on your own, there are numerous ways you can share the NCA with your campus and community and really spread this climate science goodness around! Read on for just a few ideas from NWF Campus Ecology.

Host a forum on your campus. View the list of the 60 Federal Advisory Committee members, or open any chapter of interest for a list of authors to find one affiliated with your college or university, or an institution nearby. Ask that person to speak about the effects of climate change on your particular region, or their topic of expertise. Organize a follow-up action with the attendees—coordinated letters to the editor of the local paper, signatures on a petition to your college president to transition from fossil fuels on campus, or agree on another educational event to hold in the future.

Make sure you have several laptops at your event and encourage attendees to submit comments online before leaving the event. Prior to the event, write a few draft comments on various issues that attendees can personalize and submit. (Note that each person will have to create an account to submit his or her comment—but it’s quick and easy!)

If you need help contacting a climate expert in your area, email us at campus@nwf.org! We’re happy to help.

Hold tabling sessions in your student union building or other high-traffic area and talk to your classes to encourage students at your university to submit comments to the NCA.

Organize a “Climate Adaptation Work Day” on your campus—build a community garden, plant native plants along a stream, promote alternative methods of transportation—all in the name of climate science and changing our behaviors to slow climate change! This NCA is different than the previous two in that this report discusses the need for mitigation as well as adaptation—cutting carbon pollution while also preparing for the impacts from our previous climate-altering behaviors. College and university campuses nationwide are leading the way in reducing their carbon footprints. Check out our Campus Sustainability Case Study Database for ideas and inspiration.

So tell your friends and tell your neighbors about the National Climate Assessment comment period. There’s no better time for civic engagement than the present! Remember that the comment period closes April 12.

Will you host a forum or a work day on your campus? Take photos and share them with us on Facebook or Twitter, or better yet, send us an email (campus@nwf.org) and maybe we’ll feature a guest blog post about your NCA event!

]]>http://blog.nwf.org/2013/02/a-students-guide-to-the-national-climate-assessment/feed/0Draft National Climate Assessment: Time to Weigh In On Climate Changehttp://blog.nwf.org/2013/02/draft-national-climate-assessment-time-to-weigh-in-on-climate-change/
http://blog.nwf.org/2013/02/draft-national-climate-assessment-time-to-weigh-in-on-climate-change/#commentsFri, 08 Feb 2013 16:36:21 +0000http://blog.nwf.org/?p=74132Read more >]]>I know a lot of folks don’t need a report to tell them that climate change is happening now.

Especially since 2012 was the hottest year ever recorded, the arctic sea ice extent set a new record low in recorded history, the northeast was devastated by Hurricane Sandy, and drought and wildfires struck all over the western part of the United States.

But there is one group who may just need a report to actually show them that climate change is real and is happening now. You guessed it, it’s Congress.

Back in 1990 when the U.S. Congress passed (and President George H.W. Bush signed) the U.S. Global Change Research Act, it actually mandated that federal agencies produce just such a report every four years. The latest installment of this National Climate Assessment was recently released in draft form for public review. This draft report is the most comprehensive review of U.S. climate impacts to date.It includes analyses of how climate change is already affecting specific regions and sectors of national relevance, from agriculture to health to transportation.

Flickr simm0ns777

However, Congress has failed to take the scientific research and turn it into policy. Policy that protects future generations from the devastating effects of climate change, and works to mitigate the climate change we are experiencing today.

It’s like the kid who has a math book with all the answers in the back, but refuses to do the work to find the solutions. That kid usually fails the class. In this case, Congress is failing its country. Let’s make them do the math.

So when the President addressed climate in his Inauguration speech, saying,

“We, the people, still believe that our obligations as Americans are not just to ourselves, but to all posterity.We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations.

“Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science, but none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires, and crippling drought, and more powerful storms.

“The path towards sustainable energy sources will be long and sometimes difficult. But America cannot resist this transition; we must lead it. We cannot cede to other nations the technology that will power new jobs and new industries—we must claim its promise. That is how we will maintain our economic vitality and our national treasure—our forests and waterways; our croplands and snow-capped peaks. That is how we will preserve our planet, commanded to our care by God. That’s what will lend meaning to the creed our fathers once declared.”

I think he’s saying, “Hey, we can’t deny or ignore science any longer. It is time to take action.”

As we know, action is not something that Congress is particularly keen on these days. That’s why we’ve got to push them. Right now is the time to raise our voices so that when the report lands on their desks next year they know what to do with it. And they know we’re paying attention.

]]>http://blog.nwf.org/2013/02/draft-national-climate-assessment-time-to-weigh-in-on-climate-change/feed/0Weekly News Roundup – January 11, 2013http://blog.nwf.org/2013/01/weekly-news-roundup-january-11/
http://blog.nwf.org/2013/01/weekly-news-roundup-january-11/#commentsFri, 11 Jan 2013 22:00:47 +0000http://blog.nwf.org/?p=73046Read more >]]>Want to know what National Wildlife Federation was up to this week? Here is a recap of the week’s NWF news:

January 11 - A long-awaited report on how climate change is affecting the United States will be released for public review on Monday, January 14. The Third National Climate Assessment is the most comprehensive review of U.S. climate impacts to date.It includes analyses for specific regions and sectors of national relevance, from agriculture to health to transportation. This report, and the expansive analyses on which it is based, will be invaluable for informing climate-relevant decisions. During the next three months, the NCA is welcoming comments on the draft. In addition, they are organizing several town halls around the country, at which report authors will share findings and invite input from interested parties. The report will be finalized and delivered to Congress in early 2014.

January 7 – Today, the National Wildlife Federation unveiled an ad campaign on the Washington Metro subway system aimed at influencing the Department of Justice’s settlement negotiations with BP. The ads are located in the Navy Archives Metro station, close to the Department of Justice’s Pennsylvania Avenue headquarters.

“Americans from all walks of life reeled in horror as BP’s negligence sent more than 200 million gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico,” said Aileo Weinmann, associate communications director for the National Wildlife Federation. “We’re sending a signal to staff at the Department of Justice to hold BP fully accountable for up to $50 billion in civil fines and penalties.”

]]>http://blog.nwf.org/2013/01/weekly-news-roundup-january-11/feed/0Draft National Climate Assessment Report Available for Public Reviewhttp://blog.nwf.org/2013/01/draft-national-climate-assessment-report-available-for-public-review/
http://blog.nwf.org/2013/01/draft-national-climate-assessment-report-available-for-public-review/#commentsFri, 11 Jan 2013 17:52:13 +0000http://blog.nwf.org/?p=72988Read more >]]>A long-awaited report on how climate change is affecting the United States will be released for public review on Monday, January 14. The Third National Climate Assessment is the most comprehensive review of U.S. climate impacts to date. It includes analyses for specific regions and sectors of national relevance, from agriculture to health to transportation. This report, and the expansive analyses on which it is based, will be invaluable for informing climate-relevant decisions. During the next three months, the NCA is welcoming comments on the draft. In addition, they are organizing several town halls around the country, at which report authors will share findings and invite input from interested parties. The report will be finalized and delivered to Congress in early 2014.

What’s in the report?

Today, I had a chance to see the draft at a public meeting of the federal advisory committee overseeing the report development. Some initial, big-picture reactions:

The report clearly and strongly reaffirms the findings of past climate assessments: we are seeing climate change now and the cause is primarily the burning of fossil fuels. It notes that these conclusions are buttressed by new evidence and repeated scrutiny of existing data.

The report includes detailed and definitive information about climate impacts, some of which are increasing. It points out that all Americans are experiencing climate change, an important recognition that this is a problem we are facing here and now.

The projections of possible future climate change make it clear that our choices about carbon emissions will have a significant effect on the magnitude of impacts. In particular, in order to reduce emissions to the levels that the global community has agreed is necessary to avoid most serious impacts, we need to stabilize and reduce global emissions within a few years. For the US to accomplish this, additional policies will be needed. Existing efforts are not even close to what is needed.

Responses to climate change—both slowing emissions of carbon pollution (what climate scientists call “mitigation”) and efforts to respond to and prepare for unavoidable climate impacts (“climate adaptation”)—are examined in detail for the first time in this third assessment report. This is an important step in the right direction, recognizing that the National Climate Assessment needs to more directly address the questions of decision makers. It states that current actions are not sufficient to meet the challenges facing us today.

In short, this draft report reinforces the certainty within the scientific community that the climate is changing and makes a compelling case that significant and urgent action is needed to address the root causes.

How can you get involved?

Wildlife across the country will be impacted by climate change, according to a new draft National Climate Assessment. Photo by William Wiley.

During the 90-day public review period, you can share your thoughts about the report with the authors and federal agencies who are preparing the report. What aspects of the report are done well and particularly useful to you? Are there important climate impacts missing from the report? Are there parts of the report that are confusing? Are there ways that the information could better serve your needs? Let the NCA know by filling out the on-line comment form. If you live near one of the following places, attend a town hall. These events will be a chance for you to interact directly with report authors and others in your community who are actively grappling with climate change.

I headed down to Dirksen Senate Office Building this morning to watch the hearing and kept a running diary …

9:27am - The hearing is set to begin at 9:30am. The committee includes some of Congress’ biggest champions of climate action (Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Maria Cantwell) and some of its staunchest polluter allies (Sen. Joe Manchin, Sen. John Barrasso) so we could see some fireworks. The witness panel:

9:38am – Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) gavels the hearing open. Says “several feet of sea level rise are possible” due to global warming but that’s not quite accurate – that much sea level rise is virtually guaranteed in the next 88 years, and it’s possible that we could be talking about 20 feet or more after 2100.

9:49am – NASA’s Dr. Waleed Abdalati begins testifying. Says 1/3 of Americans live in counties that immediately border the ocean. Global warming-fueled sea level rise models range from a low of 9 inches to a high of 6.5 feet. Says values on the low end are less likely. Values on the high end are based on a high-emissions trajectory … which we’re currently on.

9:54am – Dr. Ben Strauss begins testifying, you can read his written testimony at ClimateCentral.org. Says rising seas “raise the launch pad for coastal storm surges.” Compares it to “raising the floor of a basketball court – you’d see a lot more dunks.” turn Miami-Dade Florida as a “collection of islands.” Points out that in places like coastal Louisiana, sinking land will increase the effects of sea level rise. More than triples the odds of “once in a century” floods within the next two decades.

10:06am – “Not only are the skies falling, but the seas are rising,” says Dr. Leonard Berry. Points out that Florida is mostly porous limestone, meaning rising salt water threatens Florida’s drinking water supply. All witnesses have pointed out that this is not a future problem we can leave for our children to deal with – Dr. Berry says Florida is already dealing with sewage & drainage problems due to the 8 inches of sea level rise we’ve already seen, posing a major health risk. Check out this Union of Concerned Scientists report, Climate Change and Your Health: The Hidden Health Risks of Flooding in a Warming World.

10:16am – Senators who’ve attended the hearing so far: On the Democratic side, Jeff Bingaman, Ron Wyden, Maria Cantell, Bernie Sanders & Al Franken. On the Republican side: Only Lisa Murkowski, who’s also the only Republican on the committee from an ocean-bordered state.

10:24am – Witnesses have repeatedly issued pleas for better monitoring of sea level rise & the places most at risk. However, the GOP-controlled House has repeatedly tried to direct federal agencies to ignore climate change altogether. “It is bad enough that some members of Congress are favoring the short-term profit of oil & coal companies over confronting climate change and safeguarding natural resources for future generations,” NWF’s John Kostyack wrote last year. “But it is really overreaching to then try to put a blindfold on the folks who are in the position to show us the damage that their bad policies are causing and to minimize some of that damage.”

10:38am – Sen. Franken drops two wildlife references! Says it’s ironic that so many Republicans skipped the hearing since climate change is “the elephant in the room,” then says we have our “heads in the sand” like an ostrich. (However, even Dirty the Global Warming Denier Sock Puppet knows ostriches do not actually put their heads in sand.)

10:42am – “There are very few elements of our lives that will not be impacted by climate change,” says NYC’s Adam Freed. Points out that in the face of Congressional inaction, “It’s often left to state and local governments to deal with the impacts that are already occuring.”

10:46am – Sen. Murkowski leaves, meaning there are now no Republicans in the committee room for this hearing. Not much better a showing from the media – only six people at the press tables.

10:49am – Scary scenario laid out by Dr. Janetos: The Pacific Northwest gets a massive earthquake every 300-500 years. These earthquakes not only generate tsunamis, then tend to lower the land by several feet. Global warming-fueled sea level rise is raising the launching pad for those tsunamis.

Oh, and the last major quake was around 1700.

10:57am – “We are in danger of losing 30-40% of our coastal wetlands due to sea level rise.” Adam Freed points out that when you have densely-populated coastal areas, you often can’t just move the wetlands back. That means not just lost critical habitat for animals, fish & birds, but a lost buffer against storm surges.

11:11am – Sen. Franken points out that between climate change and green jobs, we need clean energy more than ever. However, Congress has refused to extend small clean energy tax credits while protecting billions in subsidies for dirty energy.

11:15am – Dr. Ben Strauss says the low end of temperature increase scenarios right now is 4 degrees Fahrenheit within the next 90 years. The last time temperatures were that high, sea levels were 20 feet higher than they are now.

The U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources is holding two interesting hearings related to climate change and energy infrastructure. First, on Thursday April 19, the committee will hear from several experts about the impacts of rising sea level on domestic energy and water infrastructure. Then, the following Thursday April 26, they will hear about weather related electricity outages.

I’m pleased that the ENR committee is highlighting these important issues. All policymakers need to understand that climate impacts – such as sea level rise and extreme weather – are harming us in ways that may not appear readily connected. In fact, a 2011 NWF report More Extreme Weather and the US Energy Infrastructure focused on exactly these sorts of connections between climate change and the vulnerability of our energy systems.

Coastal Energy Infrastructure at Risk

Rising sea level certainly does threaten our near-shore oil and gas pipelines and refineries, as well as power plants, which are often located near the coast to make use of the ample water available needed for standard electricity generation. And, climate change is the main driver for sea level rise, especially for the 21st century.

Over the last century, climate change has contributed to about 8 inches of sea level rise globally. Some areas, like the Gulf Coast, have experienced even more sea level rise due to local land subsidence. The best scientific projections for the coming century: 1-2 feet of global mean sea level rise by 2050, and 2-6 feet by 2100. About 3 feet of sea level rise would inundate more than 9000 km2 of coastal areas in the lower 48 states, according to a new study lead by Climate Central.

And, it’s not just sea level rise. Coastal energy infrastructure is also vulnerable to hurricanes. NWF’s 2011 report highlights how vulnerable oil and gas infrastructure in the Gulf region is to hurricanes:

About 30 percent of the U.S. oil supply and 20 percent of the natural gas supply is produced in the Gulf of Mexico region, an area highly vulnerable to tropical storms and hurricanes. As climate change makes it likely that these storms will become more intense and bring more severe flooding, the billions of dollars worth of infrastructure invested in this region are at risk. This includes some 4,000 offshore oil and gas platforms, 31,000 miles of pipeline, and more than 25 onshore refineries. To make matters worse, much of this infrastructure is aging, making it even more susceptible to failures.

Weather-Related Power Outages

Power outages are becoming a more frequent nuisance for many of us, and an increasing number are due to weather. Just check out this chart that NWF created based on the reports submitted by electricity companies for major outages. Changes in extreme weather, power transmission infrastructure and maintenance practices, and demographic trends may all be contributing to more frequent power outages.

Furthermore, electricity generation is likely to be affected by water shortages, especially as climate change brings more extreme heat and drought. About 89 percent of electricity in the United States is generated in thermoelectric power plants that require water for cooling. Water demand from the energy sector is projected to increase by 32 percent by 2030, while droughts are expected to become more frequent and severe. This impending crisis is not widely recognized as a future cause of electricity outages.

Building a Better Energy System

The climate-related threats to our nation’s energy systems compound the vulnerability associated with the aging and crumbling energy infrastructure, which is already causing environmental damage. It is high time that we make investments in a new energy infrastructure that is more resilient in the face of more extreme weather and climate. We recommend that the nation undertake a detailed national climate vulnerability assessment for the energy industry and develop climate adaptation plans to address vulnerabilities.

Furthermore, we must begin designing, strategically locating, and making investments in energy systems—such as appropriately sited offshore wind and distributed photovoltaic solar—that are more resilient to severe weather and climate disruptions, while at the same time help us take meaningful steps away from our dependence on coal, oil, and gas. EPA’s carbon standards for new power plants are an important step toward helping us build a more resilient power infrastructure and one that is not adding to the problem is critical.

]]>http://blog.nwf.org/2012/04/climate-change-jeopardizes-our-energy-systems/feed/1Nine Community College Faculty Gather in Virginia to Integrate NASA Tools into their Curriculumhttp://blog.nwf.org/2012/02/nine-community-college-faculty-gather-in-virginia-to-integrate-nasa-tools-into-their-curriculum/
http://blog.nwf.org/2012/02/nine-community-college-faculty-gather-in-virginia-to-integrate-nasa-tools-into-their-curriculum/#commentsTue, 28 Feb 2012 16:40:27 +0000http://blog.nwf.org/?p=46229Read more >]]>

Twenty-five participants attended the Institute last week, including 9 faculty from our three community college partners, three NASA staff, other project team members from the University of Toledo, Columbia University and Moraine Valley Community College, and JFF and NWF staff.

Reviewing NASA Resources with Amanda Staudt, NWF Climate Scientist

During the meeting faculty partners learned more about the NASA tools and data available to use for their courses through the My NASA Data website. Faculty also had the opportunity to review existing curricula that could be revised for their community college audience and participated in a two-hour working session to develop an outline for their revised courses that are scheduled to be piloted in the fall. For example, two chemistry professors developed an outline to integrate a lesson on coral reef health into their existing courses. The new lesson will focus on the impacts on coral reef health from water temperature increases due to climate change and also the acidification of ocean water because of the increase amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Also added to this lesson will be a focus on the impacts of biodiversity in the coral reef system due to temperature change and pH changes in ocean waters.

Over the next two years of this project new course curriculum and best practices will be shared on the partner campuses, campuses in the region, as well as colleges and universities in the NWF and JFF networks.

NWF’s EcoSchools program received a similar grant from NASA to develop curriculum for the K-12 audience in 2009. Resources developed through this program are being referenced for the community college project.